The first official marriage ceremony in Zimbabwe took place on Avondale farm in 1894 when the Count de la Panouse was married to Fanny Pearson (Countess Billie) by Lt Col. Marshall Hole, the Chief Magistrate of Salisbury.
Countess Billie managed the dairy farm and at the time supplied Salisbury with 100 bottles of milk a day and 100 pounds of butter a week.
Independence, ushered in a wave of gentrification in Avondale proper in the 1980s and 1990s, and the area is now a more mainstream and popular location with coffeehouses, restaurants, bars, fast casual food, theatres and retail stores.
The eastern border of Avondale, along King George Road, is far more commercialised with a mix of businesses, schools, mid-rise apartment buildings and embassies.
The commercial corridor along King George is home to plenty of shopping in the neighborhood that extends northeast to Mount Pleasant and south towards the CBD.